Video Games for Girls

Game designers trying to create games for girls. There's little question that the vast majority of game designers are men. In fact, 88.5 percent of video game makers are male, according to the International Game Developers Association. They also want more women to play a role in game design.

Titles to include:
"Pillow Fight"
"Shopping"
"Let's Drink Wine and Experiment"

'Pro' is opposite of 'Con.' Whats the opposite of Progress?

U.S. senators -- who draw salaries of $162,100 a year and enjoy a multitude of perks -- have rejected a minimum wage hike from $5.15 an hour to $6.25 for blue-collar workers.

The proposed increase was sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, (Democrat, Mass.). For those who are interested, every democrat and only four republicans in the senate voted for the increase and every vote against it was cast by a republican senator.

Three of those four republicans are running for reelection and were probably worried about how voters would react if they knew.... if people actually paid attention to these sorts of things.

Senators get health insurance, life insurance, pensions, office expenses, ranging from $2 million on up, depending on the population of a state. The taxpayers also pay for their travel, telecommunications, stationery and mass mailings.

The minimum wage has not been increased since 1997. It is currently at $5.15. During the same period since 1997, senators have voted to give themselves raises that have boosted their senatorial pay by $28,000 a year.

According to the Census Bureau, there are 37 million Americans living in poverty.

Eminent Domain rears its ugly head

The Golden Cicada tavern in Jersey City sits alongside some of the state's most valuable real estate.

But when the city's redevelopment agency moved this summer to seize the bar and the back room apartment where owner Cheng Tan lives, it wasn't to make way for another gleaming office tower or upscale residential project.

Instead, the city plans to turn the property over to a Catholic high school, so it can expand its football field..... by 7 yards. Reverend James Keenan, president of St. Peter's Prep, a respected institution with powerful political ties, argues that after spending years and about $4 million assembling property for much-needed athletic fields, it is being held up unfairly by Tan.

Unfairly? UNFAIRLY? Oh, pardon me. Its only his home and business you want to take away from the man.

I'm catholic so according to the laws of political correctness I'm allowed to say it: To hell with Rev Keenan. And to hell with eminent domain.

Oral Sex back in mainstream discussion

The latest fuss is being spurred by new federal data that found that more than half of 15- to 19-year-olds have received or given oral sex (and consequently have slightly sore jaws). Teens consider engaging in oral sex to not be sex itself. Hence a way to keep their virginity. The report released last month by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) shows that one-quarter of teens who have not had intercourse have had oral sex. Most teens who have had oral sex think of themselves as virgins.

So, ten years after Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky's relationship made oral sex a mainstream topic, there's still plenty of debate over whether oral sex is really sex.

Speaking of which, does anyone remember that? After the story broke, the next day this country went nuts. The next day a discussion started and it was in all media, took place in every office, every school..... and the discussion was, "Is oral sex adultry?"

And I kept thinking: Did I miss a day of school somewhere? I know I didn't pay attention, but at what point did the principal come on the loudspeaker and announce, "You know, tomorrow you'll be having fishsticks for lunch.... and I want you kids to remember that BJ's don't count."

Is oral sex adultry? YES! THERE IS NO DISCUSSION. If curling is an olympic sport, then oral sex is adultry. In fact, oral sex should be an olympic sport. Why? Because its harder than curling and if you're any good at it you deserve a medal.

Wal-Mart heiress rolls back college degree

Elizabeth Paige Laurie's degree from USC has been revoked after it was found that she paid $20,000 to have her roommate, Elena Martinez, do much of her homework for 3 1/2 years.

For those unaware, Elizabeth Paige Laurie is the granddaughter of Bud Walton, one of WalMart's co-founders.

I like hearing about the rich falter embarassingly, don't you?

Even the News is (partially) Fake

Today Show reporter fakes severity of New Jersey flooding by paddling canoe down street in 2 inches of water. Which might have worked if two guys hadn't strolled past her during the live shot.

Correspondent Michelle Kosinski, reporting on location about the floods in New Jersey, was canoeing in what looked to be in deep water. However as the segment began two men walked in front of her in what looked to be a few inches of water. Michelle Kosinski attempted to brush this off, however the anchors back in the studio couldn’t stop laughing about the situation.

Don't be a dummy, blow it on her tummy.

Stockholm, Sweden: A Swedish man who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple must pay child support for the three boys he fathered, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The man, now 39, gave his sperm to the couple in the early 1990s. Three sons were born in the years 1992 to 1996. He agreed he would play no role in the boys' upbringing, but signed a document saying he was the father.

The women separated and the biological mother demanded that the man pay child support. The man went to the district and appeals courts, but lost. The Supreme Court upheld these rulings.

Interesting.... the courts in other countries are just as fucked up as in the United States.

Hits from the Bong

Scientists now say that marijuana could boost brain power. Experiments on rats given a potent cannabinoid have shown the drug stimulates the growth of new brain cells. Canadian researchers found that the drug caused neurons to regenerate in the hippocampus, an area that controls mood and emotions, after one month of treatment.

So, marijuana appears to help the formation of new brain cel -- hey, Cheetos!

Special Delivery

A mailman was arrested for exposing himself to customers while delivering the mail.

"Mailman arrested after showing his big package."

Some headlines just write themselves.

To Protect and apparently Bludgeon

A 64-year-old retired elementary schoolteacher was arrested and repeatedly punched by New Orleans police over the weekend. Police then tried to cover up the incident by claiming that the man, Robert Davis, was intoxicated.

However, the man has not had a drink in over 25 years.

For those of you who have not watched any news the past few days, the confrontation was captured on videotape and broadcast across the country.

The two city police officers accused in the beating, and a third accused of grabbing and shoving an Associated Press Television News producer who helped capture the encounter on tape, pleaded not guilty to battery charges and were released Monday.

Davis said the confrontation began after he had approached a mounted police officer Saturday to ask about curfews in the city when another officer interrupted. "This other guy interfered and I said he shouldn't," Davis said. "I started to cross the street and — bam — I got it. ... All I know is this guy attacked me and said, 'I will kick your ass,' and they proceeded to do it."

The APTN tape shows an officer hitting Davis at least four times in the head. Another officer also kneed Davis and punched him twice. Davis was pushed to the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter.

During the arrest, another officer, ordered an APTN producer and cameraman to stop recording. When producer Rich Matthews held up his credentials, the officer grabbed him, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.

To protect and serve.

Good News for Women

Good news for women. (For those of you who read my blog regularly, this is not meant to be funny or sarcastic in any manner.)

A vaccine shown to be 100% effective against two virus strains that cause most cervical cancer could be available within a year, say manufacturers.

Cervical cancer kills 274,000 women worldwide every year.

Full article here.

Ike Was Right

The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney (shown at right). It was first broadcast Oct. 2, 2005.

I'm not really clear how much a billion dollars is but the United States — our United States — is spending $5.6 billion a month fighting this war in Iraq that we never should have gotten into.

We still have 139,000 soldiers in Iraq today. Almost 2,000 Americans have died there. For what?

Now we have the hurricanes to pay for. One way our government pays for a lot of things is by borrowing from countries like China.

Another way the government is planning to pay for the war and the hurricane damage is by cutting spending for things like Medicare prescriptions, highway construction, farm payments, AMTRAK, National Public Radio and loans to graduate students. Do these sound like the things you'd like to cut back on to pay for Iraq?

I'll tell you where we ought to start saving: on our bloated military establishment.

We're paying for weapons we'll never use.

No other Country spends the kind of money we spend on our military. Last year Japan spent $42 billion. Italy spent $28 billion, Russia spent only $19 billion. The United States spent $455 billion.

We have 8,000 tanks for example. One Abrams tank costs 150 times as much as a Ford station wagon.

We have more than 10,000 nuclear weapons — enough to destroy all of mankind.

We're spending $200 million a year on bullets alone. That's a lot of target practice. We have 1,155,000 enlisted men and women and 225,000 officers. One officer to tell every five enlisted soldier what to do. We have 40,000 colonels alone and 870 generals.

We had a great commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower. He became President and on leaving the White House in 1961, he said this: “We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. …"

Well, Ike was right. That's just what’s happened.

By Andy Rooney © MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

20 Million Year Old Spider

A Manchester scientist has found a 20-million year-old spider, perfectly preserved in a lump of amber. University of Manchester paleontologist Dr. David Penny managed to extract some of the spider's blood, which was then tested to reveal the specimen's age.

The discovery has provoked speculation that it might still be possible to extract DNA from the sample.

Arachnid Park to open by 2013.

An American Education

Nearly 100,000 California 12th graders — or about 20% of this year's senior class — have failed the state's graduation exam. The exit exam is geared to an 8th grade level in math and to 9th and 10th grade levels in English.

The exit exam has come under criticism by some educators, legislators and civil rights advocates. They recommended that the state keep the exam in place but consider several alternatives for students who can't pass. The state, for example, could allow seniors to submit portfolios of work that demonstrate mastery of English and math, the report's authors suggested.

Excuse me, but if you can't pass a exam in mathematics based at an 8th grade level.... how are you supposed to demonstrate a mastery of it?

Maybe the problem is that the questions needed to be worded into more real world situations using the langue kids use these days. Something like:
If Leroy axes Tyrell fo 10 gram of 60% coke an Tyrell ain't not got nufin but 8 gram of 80% and some ol 20% shit, how much cheap shit be Tyrell mixin up so Leroy can go off da hizzie?